Musical Prelude and Service.

Luke 1:68-79 VU 900 & Luke 3:1-6
So how many of you are struggling to work your way through lists of things to do in preparation for Christmas?
I had a hunch a great many of you would raise your hands.
I don’t tend to be a habitual compiler of to-do lists. People who know me well are laughing at the notion of me keeping a list of tasks that need to be accomplished. That being said, I do make lists on a weekly, and sometimes daily basis, to be sure I don’t forget things that need to be accomplished on a timely basis. I can easily be distracted by the events around me that arise spontaneously.
But even I tend to enter this time of year with a list of things that need to be accomplished in a timely manner. It’s a busy time of year and if we are not careful, the stress can and will increase the closer we get to the end of the December. And when I am honest with myself, the fact that we find it stressful to celebrate the coming of God with us, the Prince of Peace, well it’s kind of sad.
Now once again, I need to share that I don’t claim to have any magical solution to this dilemma. We have established great expectations for what Christmas and the season will look like, sound like, smell like, feel like. And it’s not going to happen on its own. So, I’ve been told.
Furthermore, I am not about to point to a particular tradition or expectation that is tied up in this season and declare it meaningless. No.
But I suspect if we are not careful, putting so much focus on preparing for the ideal Christmas celebration can deprive us of some of the joy and satisfaction of what this season we are now in can offer. Advent is a season unto itself on the Christian calendar. Yes, we often view and describe it as a time of preparation. Preparing the way for the coming of the Lord. It’s also a time of waiting, of anticipating the coming of Jesus. What are we preparing? What are we preparing for?
A professor and theologian I read on a regular basis, Karoline Lewis, offers some interesting insight into this dilemma around the relationship between Advent and Christmas and how we spend these weeks. She notes that we tend to exist through Advent in a state of doing. There’s a lot to do. We are doing a lot of preparing.
But how much time do we dedicate to being? Have we offered any of our time to the state of being? Of being in this moment? To living in this time of waiting and anticipation? To reflecting on the world and how we find God in this time and place?
Lewis also asks the question of how we see salvation. What does salvation look like? Sound like? Feel?
Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth.
We are called to be a part of that work as we prepare the way of the lord. Yes. And that itself can become a pretty intense looking to-do list. But what does it mean to make the rough ways smooth?
In the midst of scanning our lists and attempting to remove one more task, can we create the time to be – to make those mountains a little bit lower, and take in the world around us – to see and listen to feel the work of salvation that is going on around us.
Today is Peace Sunday. I know I spend a great deal of time focusing on the need for peace in our world. It is very easy to look at this world and wonder if true peace; one that exists with justice and a promise of life absent the threat of violence and injustice and oppression is possible.
But a great many people will also argue we need to also give some attention to the need for peace within ourselves. Peace is more than the absence of conflict, but we can find ourselves struggling with our own inner conflicts. How much time do we dedicate to caring for ourselves, and how much time to we commit to caring for our loved ones and to the world at large?
These are big questions. I am constantly asking myself these questions and trying to find my own balance. I do know we need to take time to quiet the inner conflicts, to take time to be, to find that peace; to prepare myself for the coming of the Christ child. For yes, there is a great deal of work to be done.
When we are called to stand up to injustice; when we ourselves are persecuted or we recognize the oppression and the attacks on those we know or are yet to know, we need strength. We need to feel secure in who we are and where we stand. We need to take care of ourselves so we can be an ally and a voice for peace in the world.
So, in this hectic time – in a season that so often draws us into the busyness of preparations for Christmas season; my wish, my prayer for all of you is to take some time to be. To be still and to look for those signs of God’s continued presence, God’s peace and the joy God offers. Take time to be present in this Advent season, so that you may find the peace and the strength to carry forward in preparing the way for the Lord.
Amen

Music provided with permission through licensing with CCLI License number
2701258 and One License # A-731789